I am nervous because i was hoping they would just wake up at some point and start putting in a better effort for the game. It sounds like they might just abandon the game entirely at this point
I'd be surprised if they did that.
I don't have inside information or even access to their discord either, but my guess is a fairly simple explanation: They got into trouble with the next quest already.
This guess is based on the few things we do know about their plans. The next quest is the conclusion of the Vehlis-bad end scenario. Two thing complicate this matter already.
First, this quest so far only had simplified and modular art and that always slowed down development without any great upside.
Second, well again, to get this outcome, you have to screw things up horribly a few patches ago and i'm not even sure if the dom route can even get this bad end (i may be wrong on this one, have to check later).
So Hreinn once again said that they are hoping for a shorter development time for this patch, but they still probably use the art style that needlessly drags it out. All this for a content that a lot of players have missed right away and a route that might just be a long dead-end. Because a dragged out dead end worked amazingly well the last time they did it for a Vehlis quest... (/sarcasm)
So what can they do to add content to everyone? Well, they could expand the training quest a bit, with more modular sketches dragging out the development... Or they could send Sabia back to the human tavern to gather a bit more information... with modular sketches dragging out the development again.
Again, i don't know what's going on in their discord, but i can't imagine Hreinn getting praised for the training quest. So they have to choose between not delivering anything to some of their player in the next patch at all, or delivering something disappointing after a needlessly extended time.
All of which could be avoided if they simply dropped the modular stlye and the new mechanics and just created a simple story patch with one or two good artwork, which would take a fraction of the time and effort.